If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Websleuths News

On the latest edition of Websleuths Radio we tackle the Rebecca Zahau murder case and the big mistake made in the autopsy report of the Las Vegas shooter.
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN

Please note: the coverage on this site cuts in after any introductory remarks were made. I'll try to find another source later to complete this.

KB … I cannot confirm any connection to this investigation. An Amber Alert remains in effect as tips continue to come in from across Canada, and we continue to seek public assistance and would like to hear from anyone who has any information regarding the whereabouts of Nathan O'Brien and Kathryn and Alvin Liknes. I will take your questions now, but please know that I am unable to get into any investigative details or speak about the man who was taken in for questioning as he was released from custody and has not been charged in relation to this particular investigation. Also here with us today is Inspector Garret Woolsey. He is the commander of the Special Tactical Operations Team for Airdrie and in charge of the search operations outside of Airdrie. So, I will answer what questions I can.

Scrum cross talk. KB indicates a particular reporter.

KB Right here.

Reporter Is it still considered a missing person investigation?

KB It is still considered a missing person investigation.

Reporter At what point will police decide to call off the Amber Alert?

KB Well that'll be an investigative decision based on the number of tips that are still coming in and information that we're receiving. So, at this point, we are still receiving tips from the Amber Alert, so we will remain or have that remain in effect until such time as that information is no longer coming in and then the investigators will determine if they're going to pull that Amber Alert.

Reporter Are you still hoping they're alive?

KB Absolutely.

Reporter What gives you that hope?

KB We have no indication whatsoever to indicate anything other than that, so our investigation continues. We have close to a hundred people still involved in this investigation, and we'll continue to put the resources we need to into this investigation. And, at this point there's no indication otherwise so we are hopeful that we will find them alive.

Reporter What about the signs of violence in the house, though? Does that speak to the risk that they might not be here any longer?

KB It's a concern, absolutely, but there is no evidence at this point to indicate one way or the other so we are going to remain hopeful.

Reporter What are you searching for in the fields?

KB Well, I'll get into that--(indicates GW) do you want to?

GW Sure

KB Well, I'll pass back and forth with the inspector.

GW Just to reintroduce myself again, I'm Inspector Garrett Woolsey, Woolsey spelled W-O-O-L-S-E-Y, and I'm a commander with the RCMP Special Tactical Operations team currently working in conjunction with our Calgary Police Partner in the Airdrie area. Special Tactical Operations is an RCMP unit comprised of officers that volunteer from across the province to engage in operations just like this. So we're currently involved in and integrated with our Calgary Police Partners in the ground search operations in the Airdrie area.

Reporter: Yesterday, the search moved from the previous day's fields around the property to Range Road 290. Is there any particular reason? Like, the vehicles, the police vehicles raced there very, very quickly. Is there any particular reason that there might be interest in those fields, or is it kind of a scan in general?

GW The way that search operations work is the teams are tasked based on the investigative priorities identified by the investigators. In this case, the investigators are based in the Calgary Police Service, so we're working very closely with them. We have Major Crime Unit members from the RCMP working along side those officers to ensure that we are exchanging information on an ongoing basis. As to whether one area might change from one target to another, well, as I said, we're assigned these priorities from the investigators. When we change from one area to another, it's not necessarily because of a major development. It's because of another priority identified by the investigators.

Reporter: Cross talk. How big is your search area?

GW Over here. So, how big the search area is? Right now we're looking at a search area that is several square kilometres. And again, we don't know currently if we're going to have to search that entire area. It's based on the priorities from the investigators.

Reporter 1 So you're not looking for bodies in the bushes?

Reporter 2 What is the priority in the particular area where you're at now?

Reporter 3 Yeah.

GW From the search end of things, we may not know, and we probably don't know, that's something that's going to be held with the investigators, with the Calgary Police Service.

Reporter In the other Missing Persons Investigations,members of the public have been used to search large areas. Why is this just police?

GW We're currently looking for evidence in relation to a missing persons case. That's why we're using solely police officers. I could..

GW We're looking for any evidence in relation, any information with respect to the missing persons.

Reporter Yesterday, forensics came out onto the scene as well. It was the fire department that came out as well. I'm just curious, was there any evidence whatsoever that came from that?

KB There were items that have been taken from that location. There's items that have been taken from the home. Those have all been sent up to the crime lab. We're working closely with the crime lab. Whether or not that has any relevance to this file, we don't know. It is part of a fairly complex and thorough investigation, so we will seize items that we are not able to identify or, if they're relevant, we don't know. Certainly, as part of that search, and part of being as thorough as possible, because there is water in that area, it is why we deployed the fire department dive team.

Reporter 1 Have you received any results back yet?

Reporter 2 Can you say what any of those items were?

KB No, I cannot.

Reporter 3 Sir, you said earlier..

Reporter 4 Have you received any results back from your testing yet?

KB We have received some items back, or results back, but there are a number of other results that we're waiting to get back from the crime lab. But, we're not going to talk about what we got back, what relevance it may or may not have. We're going to wait 'till we have all the items back and the report back. And then, we'll determine the relevance to the file.

Scrum cross talk

Reporter In terms of priority, where does this case rank when it comes to working on evidence? Does it get put in the queue or does it have priority?

KB No. We're working very closely with they crime lab, and they are expediting the results for us.

Reporter Are we any closer not to finding these people than we were a week ago?

KB The investigation still moves forward. There are a number of leads that we're still following up on, but I won't get into what we're doing, what resources we have deployed specifically, or what items we're following up on. Just to say that it is still moving forward. And, as more information comes in, we will deploy what we need as far as resourcing.

Reporter At this time, is Douglas Garland the only person of interest in your opinion?

KB There are other investigative leads that we are following up on so he is not the only person of interest that we are looking at.

Reporter Did you say he's been released from custody?

KB He is still in custody of remand on another matter.

Reporter Sorry, to clarify, did you say he's not the only person of interest?

KB There is other investigative leads that we're following up on. He's been a person we've brought in on as a person of interest that we have interviewed, but there are other investigative leads that we are following up on.

Reporter cross talk

KB But I won't get into who, what--

Reporter Did you say there are other persons of interest?

KB No, there are investigative leads that we're following up on.

Reporter But no other persons of interest?

KB Not at this time.

Reporter Are there other scenes that you are searching?

KB I'm sorry?

Reporter Are there other scenes that you're searching?

KB At this time no, we have the address on 38th -- I think, yeah-- 38 A Street that's still in our care and control. And then we have the property out in Airdrie. So those are our two primary search areas now.

Reporter How long do you think you'll be out in that search area?

KB As long as it takes. Untill we have a good, thorough search completed and we're satisfied that there's nothing in that property.

Reporter Can you elaborate on the connections between Douglas Garland and the Liknes family?

KB I can't say how long that will take. (turns from one to other reporter) I can tell you there's a loose family connection. I understand that Mr. Garland, his sister is common law with a relative of one of the Liknes family members.

Reporter Were they business partners at any time?

KB I don't know that.

Reporter Sir, last week you said that at least one person was likely injured in a violent altercation. Do you have any more details as to whether or not there was more than one person injured at that house?

KB No. Those are investigative details that I won't get into.

Reporter Have you figured out which of the people who a disappeared were among those injured?

KB I won't get into that.

Reporter Can you tell us how the family members are doing? Are you in constant contact?

KB We are daily. Of course they're devastated by this, but we keep them looped in on all of the investigative things that are moving forward. But, as you can understand, this has been a very traumatic experience and they're devastated by the loss of these family members.

Reporter Sir, I think there's a kind of assumption among a lot of the Calgarians at the water cooler that you guys almost have this thing solved. So they don't need to, that they can get on with "stampeding" and get on with their lives. What do you say to that? Do you still have an Amber Alert going on?

KB Absolutely. And you know we've had, we anticipated there was about 200 people that initially went to that estate sale and only eight-eight have come forward.

Reporter Eighty-eight?

KB Eighty-eight. So we still would like to have folks who were part of that estate sale come forward. We absolutely are asking folks who live in the area, or anybody who may have additional information to come forward. We're also asking people to have a look around your own properties--if there's anything missing or suspicious. Also, if, no matter where you are, if you see anything suspicious, a vehicle, a person, any kind of activity, you absolutely need to call us. So, we are welcoming tips, and still require information from the public.

Reporter Is there any reason why you're focusing solely on that area by the Garland farm?

KB So we asked the public to identify a potential vehicle. We had a potential vehicle identified to that address. So, this is just part of that investigative follow up. It happens to be a very large area, and so that vehicle was seized. And we don't know if the address or the vehicle or anything is going to have relevance to this investigation. But, we have to be thorough and we because of the size of that we have employed our RCMP partners. And it's going to take time to search that area properly.

Reporter These people could be anywhere. They could be east, west, north, south.

KB The investigation and the other things that we're following up on continue. Not all of our resources are stopped and dedicated to waiting until the search is completed on the RCMP properties.

Reporter cross talk
Reporter green Ford trucks are you taking--

KB We're still asking the public if they have--I mean, it's a unique truck in that its colour and its age and the year. If folks know of any other vehicle that potentially could match that description then absolutely give us a call.

Cross talk.

Reporter any other trucks that you're looking at or that you've towed away or--

KB No, not that I'm aware of.

Reporter Do you have doubts that the truck that you have is the right vehicle?

KB No. No. I mean, it's a vehicle that matches the description of the vehicle that we put out. But we don't know if it's related or the actual vehicle that was seen in the CCTV.

Reporter The longer these cases go on, the more difficult they can be to solve.

KB Yeah.

Reporter Is there a possibility that this may never be solved?

KB Well, we are going to dedicate whatever resourcing we need to, and be vigilant, and continue for as long as we need to. So, at this point we're still optimistic and we're hopeful that we're going to find these folks, and we will continue on as we are at this point.

Reporter Do you have any idea when the results will come back? Do you have any idea when'--cause you mentioned some of the testing has been returned today--and do you have any idea about when more of the results will come back?

KB It takes some time to you do analysis like this. So items are being sent up and items are coming back all the time. But, we're not going to get into what has come back or what those results were. And we'll wait 'till all of the items that we've seized come back and we'll determine their relevance to this file.

Reporter When Mr. Garland was in custody, was he helpful at all with this investigation?

KB He was co-operative. Somewhat co-operative, but was co-operating.

Reporter Did he give you any reason to focus on the Airdrie acreage?

KB We are focusing on the Airdrie acreage just because of the vehicle that was attached to that address and has been part of the investigative follow up.

Reporter At this time, does Douglas Garland face any other charges?

KB Not that I'm aware of.

Reporter Inspector. Over the course of the weekend, there was some stuff on social media saying there was a sighting in Brooks. And we haven't been able to get anything more. Was there anything to these sightings?

GW There have been sightings, and when a sighting is reported in RCMP jurisdiction, anywhere in Canada, we'll liaise directly with the Calgary police to ensure that the sighting is appropriately followed up.

Reporter: Are there any particular challenges of searching that area that you might speak to?

GW You know what? As far as searches go it hasn't been bad. The terrain is pretty good there. It's farming country. It's, I think it's 27 degrees out today, so we're taking some really, really careful precautions with our people on the ground up there. To make sure that they have enough food and water to keep them going for as long as it takes, and that they're taking sufficient breaks to the very best job possible that they can.

Reporter Do you have a timeline for how long you expect to be up there?

GW Indefinitely at this point.

Reporter Inspector, you said that earlier that some items were taken from the home as well. Was it the area around the slough that the items were also taken in for analysis procedures?

KB All I can say is that there were a number of items taken during the search with our RCMP partners. I won't get into what those were or where they were found but they have been seized and sent up to the crime lab to see if they're relevant.

Reporter So would it be fair to say that they were found in and around that Airdrie acreage?

KB Sure. Yeah, yeah.

Reporter cross talk.

KB Back, back to your -- Sorry, just one follow up to you're earlier question about the sightings. We have had tips, Amber Alert tips and potential sightings on these three family members right across Canada. So, we have had to follow up on those to see if they were relevant, and if in fact they were, we have not been able to confirm a positive sighting of the three since they disappeared. But the tips continue in right across Canada. Go ahead right here.

Reporter When you do searches like this does it normally expand out from a centre or does it usually start wide and zero into a certain spot? Is there anything unusual about the way you're doing this search?

KB No. In this case we'll do the initial area first. For those that have been in and around the house, you've seen that we've used the Calgary Search and Rescue folks. And, our search area has expanded into the neighbourhood and has expanded again a little bit further into the neighbourhood. So, initially we'll do the scene and the immediate area from potentially have identified possible evidence. In this case, the F 150, and now the search will expand from that. And if we need to expand it further based on the information we have, we will do that. And, we'll continue as far as we need to in this investigation.

Scrum cross talk.

Off camera voice: Just a couple more questions guys. Couple more.

KB Sorry. Hang on.

Reporter Sir, you said earlier you didn't know if there was a business partnership between the two--

KB I do not.

Reporter Do you know if there was any sort of business relationship period.

KB No. The only relationship that I'm aware of is the family connections. Go ahead.

Reporter Can you confirm that blood was found at the scene?

KB No. I won't confirm that.

Reporter Have you gotten any further as to a motive, a potential motive?

KB No.

Reporter Will you have an update for us tomorrow?

KB Well, that depends if there's investigative information that we want to share. We will certainly keep you looped in as things move forward.

Reporter Have you used the helicopter to do night searches?

KB Yes. Yes, we have used our HAWCS helicopter as part of the search.

Reporter Have you used it at night?

KB I don't know. I don't know if we used it at night, but certainly it has that technology. I could follow up on that, but at this point I know that it has been used to search the area.

Reporter Can you elaborate at all on whether there's any sort of connection with this new area that's being searched apart from the fact that it was another investigative lead? Is there any sort of connection with the Garlands family or with the Liknes family?

KB No. The new searches in Airdrie search?

Reporter Yes, well the new property that they're searching--

KB I think it's just an expansion of the general proximity to that initial search area. And it could expand even further from that.

CE The police are continuing their search for clues in the disappearance of a Calgary family.

AS For the second day in a row, they scoured fields, trees, and at least one pond near Airdrie hoping to find something that will lead them to find 5 year old Nathan O'Brien, and his grandparents, Alvin and Kathryn Liknes.

CE CTV's Bill Macfarlane joins us now from the search. Now Bill, last night we reported that police were questioning Douglas Garland who lives on that property with his parents. He was released today though, right?

BMc He was released by Calgary Police, Chris, and they say that he is still a Person of Interest. He may have information on the case, but there's no charges against him at this point. They're also not identifying him because, just because of just that reason. This isn't his first history with police though. He was charged more than twenty years ago after a raid on this very same property for attempted manufacture of chemical drugs. At that time he fled to BC to get away from those charges, presumably, where he lived under a false ID for a number of years before a tip to police had him caught and returned to Alberta to face those charges.

Now, we found several connections on FaceBook between the O'Brien and the Garland families. We spoke with the O'Brien family today, as we have a number of times, and asked them about a number of questions. One of them though, when we asked about the Garlands, they said "No comment" when we asked in they knew them. So we're not sure just what that means.

CE Bill, I know you've been at that scene all day, there's been a lot of activity. What's been happening?

BMc Well, again, police are shoulder to shoulder. When I got here this morning, there's about fourty officers going through the field just on the other side of these cruisers at the end of the driveway through the chest high grass, looking for any evidence at all they could find. We could see they were still active up by the farm house. But, the majority of the afternoon it seemed they were principally focused down by this slough you can see down by the end of this road. it's about half a kilometre away or so.

And they had police dogs going through the long grass there along the south side of that slough. They also had a number of officers going through the ditches, again with the K-9 units. At one point, it looked like they were going to put the police boat in the water to start searching out there. It looked like the dog handlers were indicating something out by the water. They had a look at it. For whatever reason they decided not to get that boat in. Or, maybe they weren't able to. They weren't really clear about that.

All we know now is that Calgary Police have pulled back from the scene and returned to the city for the night. But they have still got officers here holding this property, and they plan to resume their examination of it tomorrow, Chris.

CE Bill, I think we also touched base with a few neighbours today saying they are relieved that the search is finally over. I think we're about to hear from one of them as well.

BMc Here we go.

LV ?? Because it's a nice place here. Safety--we never lock the doors. If they have connection in that crime, we don't know. It's so sad.

CE Bill, what's the plan for the next two, three days or so?

BMc Well, they plan to keep going through this property now, Chris. And again, this appears, like it could be their first big break. And, of course, it's just a lead in the case, and, unfortunately, sometimes leads don't go anywhere. So we don't know. Police are staying very tight-lipped about what, if anything, they found on this property. They're keeping Doug Garland in mind as a Person of Interest. But, again, no charges against him.

It's hard to say if this is going to go somewhere or not. Of course, a lot of people want to see some kind of resolution to this. A lot of people on edge, and nerves pretty raw out there, so…

NA Just joining us now is CTV's Bill McFarlane who's in Calgary.
Bill, what are police saying about the person being questioned here?

BMc Very little at this point. Just that he is in for questioning. We did speak though to a couple of neighbours and they say that he lives with his elderly parents who've owned this property for many years. They believe he's in his midfourties. We've got two different accounts of how he was taken into custody last night, but we heard that it was many--both accounts agree that many heavily armed officers descended on this property. Of course, given the nature of the crime, and the disappearance of these three people, they have to take every precaution.

So, we don't know very much about him other than he is a little bit removed, neighbours don't know him very well, they do know the parents. He's believed to be in his midfourties, and apparently is very intelligent.

NA Tell me about the property. They're saying they're gonna have to be there for 24 to 36 hours. How big is this property? Where is it?

BMc It's about half of a quarter section, so some of the farm people will know what that means. But it's quite a number of acres at any rate, maybe 75ish or so. We don't have that confirmed, the exact size, but it's a good sized property. You can see this long grass though here and right now, just off camera, there's about twenty R.C.M.P. officers that are going back and forth, shoulder to shoulder through this field to look for any clues at all. We've also watched them peeking inside of grain silos and pulling apart some of the outbuildings and different materials that are kind of farm stuff, looking for any sort of clues. There's also a CPS (a Calgary Police Service) forensics truck that's been on scene here all day. It's set up to process whatever they may find.

NA What do you think, Bill, this means for the investigation? I know the police aren't saying much at this time.

BMc Hmm. Yeah, they're a little bit noncommittal right now, but it does appear to be the first real big break in the case since that photo came out yesterday. But now, at least, they've got someone in custody that they're questioning. It's somebody they can talk to. They're not saying anything about whether or not he is directly involved with--or if they've got any suspicions confirmed at this point. However, they've got to take a lot of time to go through here. They've got to process all this scene. And, hopefully, come up with some answers for the family and people in the community. "Cause, I'll tell you, whenever a little boy and his grandparents go missing like this--which is virtually never--it's very upsetting to a lot of people.

NA I think over your left shoulder we're seeing a van there by the bush. Can you give us any indication of what that may be?

BMc I don't know what that particular van is, it's another police vehicle. Anything that is along that road belongs to the police. There's a lot fewer police vehicles here now than there were earlier. We counted upwards of 15, and that's what we could see clearly. There were quite a number that were parked up right in the farm yard on the property, and we couldn't really get an accurate count on them. There were a lot of those were behind trees. But, again, dozens and dozens of officers combing through scene. And appear to be very meticulous because, of course, a lot of people want to see this family get home safe.

“The search will continue until no stone has been left unturned,” said Calgary Police spokesman Kevin Brookwell in the first media update on the case since Saturday.

Day 9 of the Amber Alert for five-year-old Nathan O’Brien and his grandparents saw dozens of officers once again combing through fields near Airdrie, searching for any evidence that could lead them closer to finding the trio. They were first reported missing June 30.

Calgary police investigating the disappearance of five-year-old Nathan O'Brien and his grandparents say there is "bad blood" related to money between Douglas Garland, the "person of interest" in the case, and the missing grandfather.

Police say they are not aware of any specific business deals between Garland and Alvin Liknes, but money was involved.

Nathan O'Brien Amber Alert: Police search landfillCrown says 'person of interest' Douglas Garland will be freed if he can confirm where he will live
Last Updated: Jul 09, 2014 8:08 PM MT

Calgary police are searching a landfill near the city, which they say is a routine part of their investigation into a missing boy and his grandparents.

Police say officers are going through the Spyhill Landfill, northwest of the city, looking for evidence in the disappearance of Nathan O'Brien, 5, and his grandparents Alvin and Kathy Liknes.

Meanwhile, Douglas Garland, the "person of interest" in the Calgary-area investigation, has had his bail hearing put over until Friday.

Garland made his second court appearance Wednesday on a charge of identity theft unrelated to the investigation. In response to Garland's lawyer's request for bail, the Crown said it would consent to release him once he can confirm where he will be living.

Police say officers are going through the Spyhill Landfill, northwest of the city, looking for evidence in the disappearance of Nathan O'Brien, 5, and his grandparents, Alvin and Kathy Liknes. They say widening the search is a normal part of such an investigation.

Police chief Rick Hanson said officers are working tirelessly to find the three missing people.

"Investigators are tenacious and they are committed," he said. "They take every investigation they take on — especially a homicide or any other personal assault on an individual — they take it personally."

Investigators delving into Alvin Liknes business dealings in bid to find him, his wife and his grandson
Jen Gerson | July 9, 2014 8:36 PM ET

Police have probed a farm north of Calgary since Saturday, and on Wednesday expanded the search to the Spyhill Landfill northwest of the city. One man, Douglas Garland, remains in custody, although he has not been charged with the disappearance.

According to a police source in the Calgary Herald, Mr. Liknes and Mr. Garland also had a fight over a business deal dating back several years.

The Likneses, both of whom had previously declared bankruptcy, have a long history in real estate and the junior oil and gas industry in Calgary: the Post has found Alvin Liknes is linked to at least four separate companies.

Although Mr. Liknes was not listed as a director for Winter Petroleum, an employee told Calgary Metro that the oil and gas entrepreneur led Winter prior to its recent declaration of bankruptcy. A phone number listed under Winter Petroleum still cuts directly to Mr. Liknes’s voicemail.

Detectives have interviewed former staffers of a freshly bankrupt gas exploration company founded and managed by missing Calgary man Alvin Liknes, Metro has learned.

Police have declined to delve into specifics on Liknes’ business dealings and how they pertain to their investigation into the mysterious triple abduction case involving the businessman, his wife and five-year-old grandson Nathan O’Brien.

snip

The company had its equipment seized by a rural Alberta county that it owed roughly $800,000 to in property taxes and late penalties, according to the company’s ex-chief operating officer.

Kozera said he and all of Winter’s employees officially resigned June 25.